THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE
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'"EYIS RI(;IIT": A QUARTI''
OF KAIR M(TI11I;RS
time for us to miss the train going south:
so we had another two and a half days'
wait. Such unwished-for delays are a
never-failing feature of African travel;
they add much local color to the journey.
Tlhe hotel at I ukama was well man
aged. The place was clean, the food en
tirely acceptable.
After dinner the dining room was
cleared for dancing. An American pho
nograph played "Oh, You Bleautiful Doll"
and "Everybody's Doing It," and other
selections strictly of the pre-war period.
The gentlemen paired off and danced to
gether.
Certain of the IBelgian officers were
very .pleasant, agreeable fellows, espe
cially the newcomers, and those who had
positions which were sufficiently re
munerative-those who still had hope.
At mealtime we heard a l1elgian officer
rebuke a native serving boy. lie said,
"You lra-luba!" The word sounded most
insulting. Later, we discovered that "Ba
luba" was the name of the boy's tribe.
The boy was both rebuked and shame
faced. It is no sport for a savage to be
called a savage, particularly when he
hopes he isn't.
The third night we boarded the train
for Elizabethville. lIy this time we had
exhausted our money. There were no
banks from Nairobi to Elizabethville.
We had just enough to purchase two
second-class tickets. l ut a Flemish-l el
gian official of influence, with whom we
had dined and danced at Ilukama, placed
us in a first-class compartment and over
looked the slight discrepancy in the fare.
E;LIZAHI:TIIVILLi, PROVII)IS COMIC 'ORTS OF
CIVILIZATION
When we arrived at Elizabethville, the
Congo outpost of civilization, we found
it necessary to borrow carriage hire from
our English friend to get to the hotel.
The blacks called Stanley lula 1atari,
the Rock-breaker, the Road-maker. They
apply the same descriptive title to the
IBelgians as a class.
Elizabethville. named after the Queen
of the Belgians, is the social and trade
center for the I ula \l atari in the Congo.
In Elizabethville we fraternized with
the young Englishman who came from
the heart of the Congo with us, and with
several of his friends.
\e enjoyed life
immoderately. This was the first vestige
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